Two women were shot dead and several wounded in Kabul today as they took to the streets in a rare protest against the Taliban's decree banning women from singing or reading aloud in public. Witnesses confirm the protesters were met with live fire from masked gunmen, believed to be members of the vice squad. The UK Foreign Office has condemned the 'brutal repression' and called for an immediate investigation.
But let's be clear: the international community has been watching this slide for months. Money trails show that Western aid, channelled through NGOs, has been flowing into accounts linked to Taliban intermediaries. The protest was sparked by a new edict that effectively silences women in public – a move that signals the regime's deepening authoritarianism.
Sources on the ground tell me that the women who marched knew the risks. One had a baby strapped to her back. Another was a former university lecturer.
They were asking for the right to work and study. The Taliban response? Bullets.
Documents obtained from a former interior ministry official reveal that the vice squad has been given free rein to use 'any means necessary' to enforce morality laws. This is not a fringe action. It is state policy.
The UK's condemnation is welcome but hollow. British taxpayers have funded reconstruction in Afghanistan for two decades. The same networks that siphoned off reconstruction cash are now enriching Taliban commanders.
I have seen the bank transfers. I have spoken to the families of the dead. They are not martyrs.
They are casualties of a system that has failed them. The protest was over in ten minutes. The cleanup took longer.
The international community will hold summits. They will issue statements. Meanwhile, the bodies are buried.
The money keeps moving.
